USCB professor presents early plans for old Town inn

A developer unveiled early plans for an Old Town inn to the Historic Preservation Commission last week, drawing concerns about the style of the preliminary designs and the potential changes it would bring to a largely residential area of Bluffton.

Sean Barth, an assistant professor of hospitality management at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, hasn’t yet purchased the nearly 1.5-acre lot at 24 Heyward Street overlooking Verdier Cove, but his draft plans provide for 12 rooms spread across three structures, an 800-square-foot communal space for guests and private use, a 25-space parking lot and a small playground.

Two 1,500-square-foot structures in an Old Town style would house 10 of the rooms while a 600-square-foot cottage would function as a duplex. Non-guests could rent the communal space for weddings, meetings, classes, or a number of other functions, Barth said, adding that he’d like to decorate rooms with local art that could be purchased.

Those plans don’t sit well with some residents of the nearby Stock Farm development who argue the inn would change the character of the neighborhood or some preservation commission members who criticized the early plans as something closer to the makeup of a motel. Adding the inn to the historic district requires commission approval.

Don Hurst of Stock Farm, which is situated about 40 yards behind the site, said he fears the town is jumping at the first opportunity for commercial development and neglecting a community-supported growth plan for Old Town.

“I’m afraid we’re setting a precedent for this kind of building to changing residential to commercial, and that concerns me, that bothers me,” he said.

Fellow Stock Farm resident Don Blair was more tempered with his criticism, stopping short of rejecting the project, but he said he worries the project would forever alter the “scale of activity” in the area and threaten a distinctly Bluffton character.

“The easiest way to destroy the character that we all call or think of as Bluffton is to change that scale, and once it’s gone, you don’t get it back,” he said.

Although town standards attempt to balance “non-residential use with residential character” and zoning allows for the development, striking that balance will be a challenge, said Shawn Leininger, Bluffton’s top planner on staff.

Commission chairman Wallace Milling and second-year member James Brown aimed their criticisms at the water-pervious parking lot wrapped around most of the property and the twin five-room houses.

“We imagine a long line of cars in this kind of 24-hour motel thing,” Brown said.

Milling urged Barth to “find common ground” by breaking up the structures so the style will better align with the Old Town style.

Barth said creating standalone units in the style of the Wharf Street development would be “cost-prohibitive,” but he’s open to spreading rooms across triplexes or another variation of shared structures.

“I’m not interested in coming in and fighting,” he added. “I want to work with you.”

Barth said he’ll provide more detailed plans that reflect commission recommendations when he closes on the property.